The Chief Scientist, Jim Peacock told Charles Woolley on Southern Cross radio this morning that, "any major concern [about the pulp mill] could negate the go-ahead."
 
Greens Leader Bob Brown said that potential financial backers will be poring over the pitfalls of financing a pulp mill to be built before it has cleared environmental requirements of the Commonwealth.
 
"Mr Peacock said that some aspects of the further pulp mill environmental studies must be done first and others, because of the timeframe, will take a year or eighteen months.  Then he indicated that, given these provisos, Gunns would proceed to build the mill "at their hazard". 
 
"Last week, Environment Minister Turnbull, with the Chief Scientist at his side, made it clear that he did not know where the currents carrying the effluent from the pulp mill will end up.  He did not know the impact on the marine ecosystem.  You wouldn't catch me putting dollars into a pulp mill where major scientific and environmental hurdles had yet to be crossed," Senator Brown said.
 
Further information:  Ebony Bennett  0409 164 603